The Hitchhiker
by Isobel Morgan
Summary: When Daniel agrees for SG1 to take over an excavation, Jack is less than thrilled at the prospect, but things soon take an unexpected turn.A second series story, which takes place between Need and Secrets.


**The Hitchhiker.**

Jack O'Neill sighed as he and the rest of his team stepped through the Stargate and emerged at their destination. Sure, the planet looked nice enough. Attractive, peaceful, maybe the sort of place he'd head to for a spot of fishing whenever he had leave. But that didn't change what they were there for.

"Another day, another planet," he commented, scanning the landscape. "One with a whole heap of dirt that needs shifting."

Beside him, Daniel Jackson smiled, clipping a pair of sunglasses over his regular pair against the bright sunshine as they moved away from the gate.

Come on, Jack," he said. "You've got to admit that this makes sort of a nice change. We're not going to run into a whole lot of trouble out here, and we could all use a break from being shot at."

"Oh, I don't know," O'Neill replied. "I'd take a nice, straightforward run-in with a fleet of Jaffa over shovelling dirt anytime."

"To which encounters are you referring, O'Neill?" asked Teal'c. "To the best of my knowledge, such meetings with most Jaffa could not be described as straightforward."

"I think what Jack's trying to say is that he'd rather be shooting things than helping out a bunch of archaeologists," Daniel explained, trying and failing to keep the grin from his face.

"It's not that," O'Neill objected. "I just think that most of us are…a little overqualified to be spending a couple of weeks digging stuff up when we could be-"

"Shooting things?" Daniel finished for him.

O'Neill shot him a look that said quite plainly what his opinion of the younger man was at that precise moment in time.

"Doing something more worthwhile," he corrected.

He shifted the gun he was carrying to his other hand so he could swat at the mosquito-like bug that had just landed on his neck.

"I can't believe Hammond made all of us come out here when there's so much other stuff we could be doing. Carter's bound to have some... 'thing' she'd rather be working on that I wouldn't understand if she tried to explain. And I'm sure Teal'c got some meditating to do, or something."

He glanced at his Jaffa team-mate, who remained as impassive as always.

"Actually sir," Samantha Carter answered. "Daniel's right. It does make a nice change to be out here."

O'Neill raised an eyebrow at her.

"Shovelling dirt?" he asked.

"Not that exactly," she started to reply. "But-"

"Well, there you are," O'Neill cut her off.

"Give me a break, Jack," Daniel said. "You make it sound like it's a complete waste of time, our being out here. I know you don't think this part of the Stargate programme is as productive as the military angle, but Hannah really thinks she might be onto something here."

"So why isn't she doing the digging?" O'Neill asked, slapping at another bug.

"She has been," Daniel replied. "But she has to go back to Earth for a while, and she asked us to take over from her and the rest of SG-7."

He brushed his hair back from where it was falling over his eyes and began scanning the area, looking for where Hannah had located the excavation.

It didn't take the four of them long to reach the row of dark green tents that signified the camp, and as they approached the trenches, they were greeted by the rather unexpected sight of a thirty-something woman in worn, battered jeans and a Snoopy T-shirt directing the efforts of a dozen or so men and women who were dressed in more conventional military uniforms.

O'Neill exchanged glances with Carter as the woman looked up and spotted them.

"Daniel!" she called, waving her trowel in the air, scattering loose earth as she did without noticing.

"You're here!"

She crossed over to where SG-1 were standing and enveloped her fellow archaeologist in a hug, to his faint embarrassment.

"Thank you so much for doing this for me," she continued. "It really means a lot."

"I'm happy to," Daniel replied. "I don't get the chance to do stuff like this much anymore."

"Thank God," O'Neill muttered darkly. He knew he was probably coming across like a sullen schoolboy who has to stay behind after class to help the teacher, but he didn't care. Daniel's blatant enthusiasm was starting to grate on his nerves, and after being forced to listen to him prattle on about the findings that had been made so far, he was getting to the end of his tether fast. By the end of the week, he reasoned, he was likely to have throttled Daniel. If not sooner.

Hannah didn't seem to hear Jack's words as she turned to face him.

"You must be Colonel O'Neill."

She offered him her hand, oblivious to the layer of dirt that covered it, and then moved on to the rest of the team.

"Captain Carter, Teal'c. Daniel's told me a lot about you all. It's so great that you agreed to come out here. There's so much that needs to be done, and Julian reckons we'll only have another couple of weeks or so before the winter stops work."

"Julian?" Daniel questioned.

"Julian Gates." Hannah waved her hand at the group of diggers behind her.

"He's studied climatology or something, and he did some surveys of the weather system on the planet. Looks like we didn't really pick the best time to start an excavation. Not that I didn't know that already," she added, a dark expression clouding her eyes.

"So, Doctor Markham," O'Neill said, a touch of sarcasm rising in his voice.

"Love the T-shirt, by the way. What is it that's so important it's dragging you away from a project as exciting as this?"

"Jack-" Daniel started, but Hannah cut him off.

"It's okay, Daniel."

She raised her gaze to meet O'Neill's.

"I have a court hearing to attend. My son-of-a-bitch ex-husband is trying to have me pronounced an unfit mother so he can take our son away from me," she replied coolly. "That a good enough reason for you?"

Embarrassed, O'Neill began to reply, but Daniel stepped in quickly, guiding Hannah away.

"Why don't you show us what you've found so far?" he asked. "You don't have to get back to Earth just yet, do you?"

His peacekeeping attempt worked.

"Not for a couple of hours," Hannah replied. "I'd better start with Trench 3b. We found some really good finds there, and the soil sample analysis is looking really promising..."

"Great," O'Neill muttered as they started after the pair of archaeologists.

"Soil samples. They're gonna be a real help against the Goa'uld."

Leaving Carter, O'Neill and Teal'c in the equipment tent, unloading the gear they'd brought, Hannah led Daniel over to the trenches, explaining what she'd found.

"You can see that band of charcoal there," she pointed out. "There must have been some major burning of structures here, probably only a hundred, hundred and fifty years ago, and I think this must have been from when the Goa'uld evacuated this planet. We know they tend to employ a scorched earth policy, and if we can just find out what it was that made them leave-"

"Hannah," Daniel cut in gently. "I read your survey reports. I know all this. What I really want to know is how you're holding up."

Hannah's shoulders slumped, her professional stance fading.

"I've been better," she replied. "But thanks for asking."

"Don't worry about it, you'll do fine, I know you will," Daniel told her. "You're a great Mom, any court'll see that."

"You think any court would believe the reason I'm away so much is because I'm conducting excavations on other planets?" Hannah replied tersely. "Because, you know, my job is making this custody battle more than a bit difficult. I've already had Hammond call me in to discuss it, to make sure I won't be compromising security in any way."

"He didn't really think you'd do that, did he?" Daniel asked.

"I don't think so," Hannah said. "But he had to make sure. He said it was okay that I told them I work for the military and that much of my work is classified, but it doesn't help my case that I can't explain anything about my job. And Taylor's making as much of that as he can."

"Taylor, that's your husband, right?"

"Ex-husband," Hannah corrected. "Otherwise known as the asshole who wants to take Gideon away from me. Well, I'm not going to let that happen. I'm not losing my son."

She paused.

"Even if it means leaving the SGC."

"What?" Daniel was stunned. "You're leaving?"

"Thinking about it," Hannah told him. "I mentioned it to Hammond, and he said it was my decision, but he'd be sorry to lose me." She smiled wistfully. "Which was nice."

"We'd all be sorry to see you leave," Daniel told her. "Do you really want to go?"

"No! But it's not just me I've got to think about, is it? I need to provide a stable home for Gideon, and I can't do that if I'm gate-hopping all the time, can I? It would be different if Taylor and I were still together, but Angela put paid to that."

"She's the woman that Taylor-"

"Ran off with? Yeah. Bitch."

Hannah sighed, rubbing her forehead with the back of her hand.

"I don't know, maybe I could switch to finds processing or something. You said you could use an assistant to deal with all the stuff your team bring back. That wouldn't be so bad."

Daniel paused.

"Would you really want to do that? I mean, I'd be happy to have you working with me, you know that, but wouldn't you rather be out here, getting involved properly?"

"Of course I would. I just, you know, have other factors to consider."

"Well, let me know before you decide anything," Daniel said, laying his hand on her shoulder in a brotherly fashion.

"I'd hate to see you go just because your ex-husband's an ass."

Hannah smiled, erasing some of the worry lines around her eyes.

"Thank you Daniel. You're a good friend."

"And you're a good archaeologist. Don't forget that. Now, what else did you want to show me before you left?"

_Hovering in the protective covering of the trees, something watched, its curiosity piqued by the strange beings wandering in its world, absorbed in their work. _

_It had never before seen any kind of creature that was not of its own race, although it remembered stories told of a time when other beings walked the ground of their planet. _

_It also remembered that the stories told of an ability their people had then, that they could sink into the minds of these creatures and share their experiences, even controlling their movements. These stories had always fascinated the young alien, and it shimmered closer, hoping to understand more about these creatures. _

_As it observed the strange actions of the beings, it decided that the only way it could truly do so was to test out what the stories claimed, and to try to ride the mind of one of them. But which one? The alien had no idea how to tell anything about these creatures - besides the basic bipedal shape, they all appeared to be so different. Eventually, it decided on one that was a little isolated from the others, reasoning that its attempts were at least less likely to be noticed by the others. _

_Gliding towards the creature, it gathered itself together, and dived into its form. _

_The sensation was most unexpected. It was peculiar, yes, and, well, alien, but also strangely familiar, and not as difficult as it had expected it to be. It did not think that the alien was yet aware of its presence, and it did not attempt to take over any part of its function, content for the time being to merely share its form and see what it could learn. The experience was fascinating. It could see its world in a whole new way through the eyes of the alien, and it was aware of new senses that it had not possessed in its own form. For instance, the way that the alien responded to aural sensory input. _

_Although language was not unknown to the alien's race, they rarely used sound as a means of communication, yet to this race, it appeared to be a primary method._

_Intrigued, it sank deeper into the alien's mind to learn more, processing the language as it did, so that it could understand the interaction between its chosen being and the others. It was so absorbed in this task, it barely noticed that the creature, accompanied by three others, had detached themselves from the main group and were moving towards the circular artefact, until something happened it could not ignore. One of the smaller creatures was doing something to the secondary artefact, pressing the carved symbols. The alien could not fathom how they could possibly be interested in these structures - if spoken language was not common to it, written language was completely unknown. It was then extremely surprised when the primary artefact began, apparently in response to the actions of the being, to move, and utterly astounded when what appeared to be a fountain of water came rushing out of the centre of the artefact, retracted, and settled into the form of a pool, all the while remaining upright, without spilling. The alien remained burrowed within the mind of its chosen being as the group approached the pool, and, to its complete amazement, stepped though it. There was a violent rush of sensation, buffeting the alien even within the mind of another, leaving it disorientated as they emerged into a totally alien environment. The shock discovery that another world lay the other side of the artefact forced the alien to retreat further still into the mind of its carrier, a silent passenger. _

Major Andrew Price scratched the back of his neck absently as he stepped out of the Stargate and back onto the ramp, his fellow SG team members beside him. To be honest, he was glad to be back. Much as he liked Doctor Markham, he shared much of Jack O'Neill's attitude towards archaeology. He was a soldier, and although he was also a scientist, the idea of grubbing about in the dirt didn't appeal, no matter how important Hannah said it was. Now he was really looking forward to heading home, taking a long shower, and making the most of the leave he was getting while Hannah was away.

Luckily, debriefing and medical check-ups were kept to a minimum this time, P3X 919 having been visited several times before and judged free from all contaminants.

He caught up with Doctor Markham as they were leaving the base.

"Enjoy your leave," she told him, with a tense smile.

"I will," he replied. "Good luck with your case this week."

"Thanks," she replied, the stress in her voice and her stance speaking for themselves.

"Oh, hey Andrew. Is it okay if Gideon and I stop by yours tomorrow before we head off? He thinks he left GI Joe there last visit, and he wants to take him with us."

"Sure," Price replied. "I'd hate to see the little fellow lose a friend and role model like that. Come by anytime."

"That's great." Hannah's smile picked up a little. "Was GI Joe really a role model for you?"

"Maybe." Price replied, grinning. "Well, they didn't make a 'Physics Professor Joe' when I was in school. Maybe if they had, I would have been a teacher or something instead of joining the military. See you in a week or so, Doctor Markham."

They stepped out of the elevator, and went their separate ways, neither of them suspecting that within his mind, Andrew Price carried an alien presence.

_Frightened, the alien remained hidden within Price's inner mind until the man reached his home. Once there was no one else around, its worry began to fade a little._

_It had begun to master the language of these 'people' now, and had gained some understanding of who they were and, more importantly, what this 'Stargate' they had travelled through was. It had never expected its adventure to go this far, and now it wanted to go back home. To do this, it reasoned, it had to make this 'human' go back through the Stargate – it had no idea whether it could survive on this planet outside of its carrier, everything was so different here, so closed in with structures and other beings. _

_But as its knowledge of Price's mind grew, so did its confidence, and a plan began to develop. It would simply gain control of the functions of this being's form, and make it return to the Stargate. It knew that its host had a fairly detailed understanding of how this device functioned, and it was a recognised being there, so it reasoned that this task would not be beyond its abilities. It spent time exploring the inner recesses of Price's mind and body, then gathering all its strength and control, the alien reached out the tendrils of its power, and plunged them into the control centres of Andrew Price's body and brain. He never knew what hit him._

_Too late, the alien realised that it had used too much power, that it was overloading the being's central nervous system, but it could not pull back. Price slumped to the floor without a sound, burned out from the inside, and the alien was forced to flee his dying body before it was trapped inside the now empty shell of its former host. _

_Panicking, weakened by the shock of its host's death, it shot out of the house, passing through the walls in its hurry, and began to search for a new host. The streets were dark by now, almost empty of beings, and it could feel its strength fading as it struggled to survive in this new environment._

_Finally, it came across another lone being, a male - it had learned to distinguish between the two 'sexes' now- and dived straight into its mind, huddling deep inside for protection. It was less careful this time, and the host noticed that something was amiss, but it could not determine what had occurred, and the alien was undetected. It began to relax, riding safely in its new host, when a sudden realisation jolted it awake once more. This being did not have access to the Stargate. Without its previous host, it could not return home. It had to gain control of this new body, make it go back to Price's house, and see if it could find some other way in._

_Drawing on its last reserves of strength, it again reached out and tried to latch onto the control centres of its host. This time, it managed to gain a hold, and although its host struggled – fortunately by now the street was deserted and there were no witnesses to this alien possession – it quickly won over control. Once this had been established, the alien found that the host no longer struggled. It did not appear to be endangered by the possession, all functions continuing as normal, and the alien found that it could direct the movements of this host with considerable ease. Settling into its new form, the way a human might into a comfortable chair, it guided the body back towards Price's house. It could afford to rest now for a while, then it could search the home of its previous host for a way to return home._

Early the following day, Hannah Markham drew up outside Major Price's house in her battered old car, and turned to the five year old boy strapped into the back seat.

"Okay, Gideon. Mommy just has to go get your GI Joe from Uncle Andy. Do you want to come with, or wait here? I won't be long."

"I wanna see Unca Andy," the little boy replied. "He gives me gum."

"Yeah, I know he does," Hannah muttered. "I keep meaning to have words with him about that. Come on kiddo."

She released her son from his seat buckle and led him up the steps to Price's home.

"Unca Andy has a nice house, doesn't he?" Gideon asked.

"Yes he does," Hannah said. "I don't know how he affords it, but then he doesn't have to buy Playstation games for little boys, does he?"

She went to knock, but as she did, she noticed that the door wasn't locked. More than that, she saw that the door had been forced open. Alarm bells ringing in her head, she pushed her son behind her to shield him from any possible danger, cursing her previous decision not to carry a weapon when not away on missions. But she didn't really like guns. She was just an archaeologist, not a soldier, and despite the training she'd been given when she joined the SGC, she knew she couldn't really expect to take on an attacker on her own. But she could protect her son.

"Stay behind Mommy, Gideon," she said. "I think something's wrong. Keep an eye out for anyone."

"Something happened to Unca Andy?" Gideon asked.

"I hope not," Hannah replied. "But we need to be careful."

She pushed the door further open, scanning the darkened room beyond.

"Andrew?" she called. "Are you ok?"

But even as she said it, she saw that he was not. Trying to keep her voice steady and shield her son from the sight of her friend's body lying crumpled on the floor, she took her car keys out of her purse and handed them to the little boy.

"Gideon, sweetie. Run back to the car and get Mommy's cell phone."

"What's wrong, Mommy?"

"I don't know Gideon. Just go on, quickly now."

Thankfully, the boy did as he was told, not yet seeing Price's body. As soon as he'd gone, Hannah ran to her friend's side, turning him onto his back and checking for a pulse. Finding none, she attempted to begin CPR, but she already knew it was too late. Andrew was cold and stiff, all life having long since fled. Hearing Gideon's footsteps returning, she got up from Price's side and went to meet her son, trying to keep him away from the body. She took the cell phone and called into the SGC, arranging for the medics to come and pick up the body, unaware that as she did so, she was being observed by a figure hidden in the shadows of the room.

_Watching through the eyes of its new host, the alien witnessed Hannah's actions, hardly believing its fortune. It took a moment to recognise Hannah; its ability to distinguish between individual humans was still developing, and it was not helped by the drastic change in her appearance from scruffy archaeologist to smart, businesslike Mom on her way to court. As soon as it linked what it was seeing to the woman who had accompanied Price through the Stargate though, it knew it had found a new solution._

_It was still too weak to attempt another jump to this woman's body, however, and was forced to consider other options. It observed the way that the woman behaved protectively towards the small human with her, and began to form a plan as to how it could get the woman to help it. The thought of just asking for her help did not occur to the alien. Thanks to its species' past encounter with the Goa'uld, however long ago that may have been, the aliens were now inherently suspicious of all other races, not believing that any other species would offer help without sufficient incentive. Like a threat to one they cared about_…

Hannah stood on the porch of Price's house, holding Gideon in her lap, shooting nervous glances back into the house and down the street as she waited for the SGC medics to arrive.

"I'm cold, Mommy," Gideon complained, wriggling. "I wanna go inside."

"Not yet, sweetie," Hannah told him, too distracted to say anything more comforting. "We have to wait for some friends of mine to arrive."

"But I'm cold," Gideon began to whinge. "I want GI Joe, and I want-"

"Okay," Hannah gave in wearily, recognising the signs that her son was starting to act like a royal pain in the butt. Before long, he'd be whining for his father, and then her patience would run out so fast she didn't know what she'd do. Not to mention that she was forcing herself to put off dealing with the death of a close colleague and friend of hers.

"But just wait here a moment, okay?"

Reluctantly, she went back into the house, pulling a blanket from the sofa to cover Price's body. She knew she'd have to tell Gideon what had happened sooner or later. She started thinking how this couldn't have come at a worse time really, then mentally slapped herself as she realised what she was thinking.

Poor Andrew was dead, really dead, and all she could think of was how this would affect her son, and her chances of keeping him.

"Gideon," she called. "You can come in now."

She turned, and froze in shock as she saw another figure standing behind her son in the doorway, one she didn't recognise, and that this man had Gideon's shoulder in a tight grip.

"Gideon-"

She started towards her son, but stopped as she saw what the man held in his other hand. It was a gun, and it looked like it was Andrew's. Which meant she could be looking at Price's killer, and that he now had her son.

"Mommy-" Gideon began to squirm in the man's grip, and Hannah's heart gave a panicked leap as the man raised the gun and gestured at Hannah with it.

"It's okay, sweetie. Try not to move too much. And keep quiet."

She took her eyes off the gun for a moment to lock eyes with her son, struggling to keep the terror from her voice.

"Please, Gideon. This is important."

Thankfully, the boy did as he was told. Hannah didn't know what she could have done if he hadn't.

"What do you want?" She asked the man. "What did you do to Andrew?"

"Not meant to hurt," the man replied with some difficulty, and to Hannah's horror, she saw that his eyes had a faint glow to them, like those of a Goa'uld. But even as she saw this, she realised that this couldn't be; a Goa'uld wouldn't be acting like this. But she was still dealing with an alien of some kind, and one she knew nothing about.

"What are you doing here?" She asked. "What do you want on Earth?"

"Earth?" the man/alien cocked its head. "That name of place? Not mean to come here. Just rode mind of man-"

He gestured to the blanket covered form that had once been Major Price.

"And ended up here. Want go back."

"You're from P3X 919? The planet we just came from?"

"Know not P3 number. But yes, from planet. Want go back through artefact."

The alien replied, then shook its head to correct itself.

"Stargate."

Oh shit, Hannah thought, just managing to refrain from voicing this though in front of her young son.

"What do you want me to do?" she asked, not taking her eyes away from the gun and the shaking hand that held it.

Haltingly, the alien told her.

When the SGC medics arrived, they found Hannah sitting alone on the doorstop of Major Price's house. Her face told them all they needed to know, even before they entered the house and found the body. They weren't surprised when Hannah insisted on coming back to the base with them, or that she stayed with the body when they arrived, until Doctor Fraiser made her leave so she could start examining the body.

After calling the remaining two members of SG-7 at their homes to tell them what had happened to Andrew, and making sure very carefully that no-one was watching her, she crept out of the infirmary and made her way to a number of storage rooms around the base, removing certain items and stowing them away in Gideon's schoolbag.

As an afterthought, she made a side trip to her own office, and removed the loaded gun from the locked drawer of her desk, tucking it away in the back of the bag. Then she returned to the infirmary in time to meet Janet Frasier.

"I haven't had the chance to perform a full autopsy," the doctor told her. "But I can't see any external indications as to what the cause of death was yet. My guess is that it was some kind of seizure."

She studied the other woman, who was acting in a very odd way. Frasier knew that people reacted to shock and death in many different ways – and she'd seen more than her fair share of these since she became a doctor - but she could have sworn that Hannah was more nervous than anything else.

"How are you coping? I heard you found him."

"Yes," Hannah replied. "I went over to pick up the toy Gideon left there, and I found him on the floor. I- I don't know anything else, I'm sorry. He looked fine when I saw him yesterday. I didn't know he was going to-"

She stopped, tears welling up in her eyes for the first time as the reality of her friend's death hit her.

"There probably wasn't anything else you could have done," Frasier comforted her. "Where's Gideon? Did he come with you to Major Price's house?"

"No, he's, he's with my neighbour," Hannah lied. "I was only going to be a little while."

She bit her lip, dropping her gaze to the floor.

"This is going to sound horrible, and if it was any other situation, I wouldn't, but-.

I have to go. Is that too appalling?"

"No," Frasier assured her. "I know you have to be in court. I'm sure Major Price would have understood."

"I'll try to come back as soon as I can," Hannah said, desperate not to sound as heartless as she felt for abandoning her fallen team-mate, but the situation had changed. If it had just been the court case, she would have tried to postpone it, but now she was terrified that if she was away for too long, something might happen to Gideon, and she couldn't risk that. Now that was something "Uncle Andy" might have understood. Praying in her heart for his forgiveness, Hannah walked out of the complex, and went back to Price's house, taking with her the stolen components she was trading for her son's life.

"So what is it you're saying, Doctor?" General Hammond asked later that day, looking as the petite woman in the white coat standing in front of him. "What was it that killed Major Price?"

"That's just it, General," Frasier replied. "I can't tell. Not for sure. I found some things in Major Price's body that I can't even begin to explain. They could be the indication of some kind of trauma, or they could be from some totally unknown alien virus.

"So you think the others on P3X 919 could be in danger?" Hammond questioned, looking up from the test results Frasier had laid on his desk.

"I don't know, Sir, but I recommend that we recall them all until we're sure whether there's a risk or not."

"Agreed. And you already have SG-7 here at the base?"

"Most of them. Doctor Markham left a few hours ago, but we're trying to contact her now."

"And she has no idea what happened to Major Price?"

"She says not. To be honest sir, I don't see how she could know anything we don't. Until I performed the autopsy, there were no signs on his body to indicate that he died of anything other than natural causes."

General Hammond nodded.

"Alright. Recall SG-1 and the others on the excavation until further notice."

Frasier nodded, and left the room as the telephone on Hammond's desk began to ring. He picked up the receiver.

"General Hammond," he said, listening to what the other person had to report.

"They saw _what_?"

It was the next morning when the meeting finally assembled in the Briefing Room of the SGC. Hammond sat at the head of the table, SG-1 and the others evacuated from P3X 919 around it, waiting. They all looked up as Janet Frasier entered the room, carrying a sheaf of documents with her that she began to distribute around the table.

"Sorry I'm late," she said. "I wanted to make sure we had all the results before I got you all here."

"That's okay," Jack O'Neill said. "It's not like we have anything else important to do."

Daniel shot him a look.

"So, do we get an explanation as to why we were pulled off P3X 919?" he asked. "We've not been there two days, and-"

"All in good time, Doctor Jackson," General Hammond cut the young archaeologist off.

"Now as I'm sure you're all aware, Major Andrew Price was found dead at his home early yesterday morning. Doctor Frasier has reason to believe that whatever it was that killed him may have originated from P3X 919 and that all of you may have been exposed to the same danger."

"Actually sir," Janet spoke up. "That's not exactly the case. My results indicate that it wasn't any kind of virus that killed Major Price. I ran some tests and found evidence of what appears to be scorching within his brain and major organs."

Daniel looked up from scanning Janet's report.

"From the inside?" he asked in disbelief.

"Yes," Frasier replied. "The burning is consistent with electrocution, but all of the damage occurs entirely on the inside of his body. I can't find any external point of entry, which would indicate something like a Goa'uld hand device."

This time everyone looked up.

"You think a Goa'uld killed Major Price?" Carter asked. "On Earth? How could that be?"

Hammond stood up, a grave expression on his face.

"I received a telephone call a few hours ago from one of our contacts in town. They said that there have been reports of a man acting strangely around the area of Major Price's home." Hammond paused.

"The report said that the man's eyes glowed."

A stirring went around the room at his words.

"How could any Goa'uld have gotten through the Stargate?" Carter asked. "I mean, apart from the obvious, wouldn't Teal'c or I have sensed it? And why go after Major Price anyway?"

"Precisely," Frasier agreed. "We're not so sure that this is a Goa'uld. The behaviour isn't consistent with any of our encounters with the Goa'uld so far, and from what I've seen of them, when it comes to killing, subtlety isn't their way."

O'Neill gave up flipping through all the complicated medical terminology in the report and tossed it down on the desk in exasperation.

"So are we dealing with a freakin' snake-head or not?" he asked, on the verge of irritation.

Teal'c steepled his hands together.

"I believe Doctor Frasier is correct, O'Neill," he said calmly. "The information that we have is not that which is typically attributed to the Goa'uld."

O'Neill stared at him.

"Apart from the whole glowin' eyes thing?" he asked, waving a hand in front of his own face. Teal'c did not reply, remaining expressionless.

"But if it's not a Goa'uld," Daniel contributed. "What is it? I mean, the same argument would apply to the Tok'ra, wouldn't it?"

"So we're dealing with something we've never seen before?" Carter said.

"That would appear to be the case," Teal'c replied. "And may I suggest that it is likely Major Price encountered this alien whilst on P3X 919."

"What about Hannah?" Daniel asked suddenly, as this sank in. "If that's true, is it possible that she's in danger too?"

"We've already tried contacting her," Frasier told him. "So far we haven't been able to reach her, but she did warn us that that might be the case while she's away."

"I guess so," Daniel replied. "And I can't see any alien trying to attack someone in the middle of a court room. She's probably safe for now, but we should keep on trying to contact her."

"Of course," Frasier assured him.

"So what do we do now?" Hammond asked. "I can't have people just running around Major Price's neighbourhood looking for a man whose eyes glow."

"It's a start," O'Neill replied, with a sardonic smile. Hammond ignored him.

"Especially as we have no idea what we're dealing with here," he continued.

"Well, the only way we're going to discover anything," Daniel pointed out. "Is when we find whatever it is. If the neighbourhood know that Major Price was killed, it makes sense that there would be a murder hunt of some kind. We'd just have to be careful."

He exchanged looks with the rest of his team, who indicated their agreement, and also their willingness to do just that.

Hammond considered it for a moment.

"If it is the case that we have an unknown alien loose on Earth," he said, finally. "Then we have to contain it. Colonel O'Neill, I'm leaving this with you. Try to keep it discreet."

O'Neill raised his eyebrows in wounded innocence as everybody got up from their chairs.

"Me?" he asked. "When am I not discreet?"

Seeing that Daniel had opened his mouth to reply, O'Neill put his hand up to prevent his colleague from speaking.

"Don't say it, Daniel," he said as they left the Briefing Room.

Biting his lip to hide his growing smile, Daniel did.

As they moved out into the corridors, however, a man ran up to General Hammond, a pile of papers in his hand.

"Excuse me, sir," he said, slightly breathless. "But you said to come to you directly if I found any more equipment missing."

He handed the papers to Hammond, who glanced through them, then handed them back to the man.

"You're sure about these?" he asked.

"Positive," the man replied. "I checked and rechecked. No-one's approved their removal and I know for a fact that they're not where they should be."

"What's this?" O'Neill asked. "You running short of a few paper clips?"

"No sir," the man replied, not meeting the Colonel's gaze. "We seem to be dealing with the disappearance of a number of key items from storage. These thefts were only noticed yesterday, and we check these kind of items regularly."

"What kind of stuff are we talking about?" O'Neill asked, taking the list and looking through it. "Oh," he said. "Complicated stuff."

"Let me see," Carter looked over the list in O'Neill's hands. "Oh."

She looked over to the technician.

"And this stuff only went missing yesterday?"

"Yes ma'am," he answered.

Carter turned to Hammond.

"Sir, with this sort of equipment someone could manually override a gate, like we would in the event of a systems failure. Only SGC personnel would know about this, and the timing is too much to be a coincidence."

"Someone here is helping the alien?" Hammond asked.

"The only reason anyone would take equipment like this would be to dial out without using the control room. I can't think why anyone would want to take this stuff if they weren't intending-"

"To get an alien off the planet." Hammond finished for her. "So we may have a security breach here at the SGC as well as an alien threat?"

"Yes sir," Carter said. "And like I said, it's too much of a coincidence that these occurred at the same time without being connected."

"Bear that in mind," Hammond instructed. "We'll investigate things here while you look for the alien outside the base."

"Will do," O'Neill replied, leading his team away. "Beats shovelling dirt any day."

It was evening when SG-1 and their back-up arrived at Major Price's house. Spreading out in time-honoured military fashion, they surrounded the house, and moved in. It only took a few minutes for them to determine that no one was inside.

"So where do we go now?" Daniel asked as he pulled off his hat, leaving his fair hair standing up untidily.

"So now we start asking around," O'Neill replied. "Major Price's neighbours knew he was military, so they shouldn't be too surprised at a military investigation. Maybe they can tell us something."

"Like if they saw a man with glowing eyes?" Daniel asked.

O'Neill gave him a look.

"Daniel, you can stay here and keep watch over the house," he told him.

"I should also remain here, O'Neill," Teal'c said. "I will stand guard outside in the event of the alien's return to this house."

"Yeah," O'Neill agreed. "Just make sure you keep your hat on, okay?"

Teal'c inclined his head in acquiescence, pulling the hat down to cover the mark on his forehead.

"Carter, you're with me," O'Neill continued. "You guys, spread out in a search pattern." He paused. "I don't know what the hell we're searching for, but keep looking for it anyway."

They moved out, leaving Daniel alone to kick his heels. He was slightly unnerved at remaining alone in the house of a dead man. Even though he hadn't known Major Price all that well, the man's sudden death was still a shock. Plus he was worried about Hannah, whom he still hadn't been able to contact.

With nothing else to do, and not wanting to disturb the contents of the house too much, he switched all the lights back off and crossed over to the kitchen window. Looking out, he could see Teal'c, outlined by the streetlights, working his way around the perimeter of the house. Daniel decided that he should probably move to the front, although he wasn't expecting the alien to just walk in the front door.

The thought had barely formed in his head when he heard the sound of the door being pushed open, making him jump. Pulling the gun from his thigh holster, he moved as silently as he could through to the living room, but before he could get there, the light flickered on, illuminating the room. Daniel couldn't believe the sight that greeted his eyes as he stepped through the doorway, the gun raised in his hand.

"Hannah?" he asked, incredulously.

The cause of his astonishment froze as she recognised the black-clad figure aiming a weapon at her as her fellow archaeologist.

"Shit!"

Hannah dropped the brown paper bag she was carrying, spilling its contents on the floor as she turned and fled the house. Struggling to comprehend what he'd just seen, Daniel ran after her.

"Hannah, stop!"

Ignoring his calls, Hannah ran in a blind panic. What the hell was _Daniel_ doing here? She'd thought that maybe the SGC would send people to Andrew's house once they found out he hadn't died of natural causes, but she hadn't thought it would be so soon, and certainly not in the form of Daniel Jackson holding a gun on her.

Realising the enormity of what she'd done and the mess she was now in, she tried to cut through Price's front garden and slammed into what felt like a brick wall.

"It would not be wise to resist any further, Doctor Markham," Teal'c told her, holding her arm in a vice-like grip.

"Shit!" Hannah said again uselessly, resisting the childish urge to kick Teal'c in the shins, knowing it would probably hurt her more than it did him. She felt him frisk her, removing the gun from her coat pocket as Daniel caught up with them. The motion sensor light flooded the garden, making it impossible for her not to see the hurt at her betrayal stamped so clearly across his features.

"Hannah? What the hell are you doing here?"

"Don't ask me that," Hannah replied, bitterly. "You don't want to know."

"We should return to the house, Daniel Jackson," Teal'c advised his colleague. "Before we attract any further attention."

He indicated the lights that were switching on in the houses opposite in response to their chase.

"Yeah," Daniel agreed, not taking his eyes away from Hannah, who was staring fixedly at the floor. "Yeah, OK. You'd better get the others back here. I'll keep an eye on Doctor Markham."

Hannah winced at the change in Daniel's tone, and his move from using her first name to her title, but she allowed him to take her arm and lead her back into Price's house.

"You don't need to point that at me," Hannah told him wearily as she sat down on the couch, indicating the gun. "I'm not going anywhere."

She couldn't meet Daniel's eyes. She'd seen the accusing look on his face and it was making her feel worse. Her concern for Gideon, now being held goodness knows where by the alien, had prevented her from considering what other repercussions there could be to her actions, how she was betraying her friends and her job.

Daniel folded his arms, the gun still in his hand.

"So, do you want to tell me what's going on?" he asked, his voice cold. "Why you're here helping the alien that killed Major Price instead of fighting for your son in court?"

Hannah closed her eyes, miserable tears now beginning to well up.

"I can't," she told him. "I just am, can't you leave it at that?"

"No!" Daniel took a step closer to her, reaching out a hand to touch her shoulder, then thinking better of it. He was still struggling to accept what was happening.

This was _Hannah, _what the hell was going on? Even through all this, he noted how tired and strained she appeared, that her once smart suit was crumpled and worn, and her hair was starting to fall out of its knot. Something wasn't right.

"How can I just accept it? How could you get involved in something like this?"

"Please don't ask me that," Hannah replied, the tears now escaping and rolling down her face. "I can't answer that. I can't tell you anything."

"Why not?" The frustration was clear in Daniel's voice. "I can't help you unless you tell me what's going on!"

"You don't want to help me, Daniel," Hannah replied bitterly. "I'm not worth your help.

I betrayed the SGC, and I betrayed my friends. Isn't that answer enough for you?"

Daniel opened his mouth to reply but he was interrupted by the return of the others.

"Oh my God," Sam said as she caught sight of the sofa's occupant, speaking for all of them.

"Hannah?"

Hannah closed her eyes again, unable to take the shocked, accusing stares of her friends and colleagues. She knew how this looked. But worse, now she'd been caught, how was she going to save Gideon? She had no idea where he was, and the alien had threatened to kill the boy if she told anyone about it. She was stuck in the worst mess she'd ever been in, worse than the whole sorry custody battle. Instead, she let them take her back to the SGC, and lock her up. Her refusal to answer any of their questions just convinced the others of her guilt, and they left her sitting curled up in a chair, a ball of misery locked in a circle of worry.

Meanwhile, in General Hammond's office, a brief argument was taking place.

"The facts appear to speak for themselves, Doctor Jackson," Hammond was saying. "Doctor Markham was found at Major Price's home, in the possession of the stolen equipment. It seems perfectly clear to me what she was doing there."

"But there was no alien there," Daniel argued. "We know there has to be one. Hannah didn't kill Major Price. Why would she?"

"I agree," Hammond replied. "There's no argument there. But that's not the point. The real question is why she was helping it."

"I know, sir," Daniel said. "Just let me talk to her. I think I might get her to open up."

"I don't see what you can hope to achieve," Hammond told him. "She's refused to speak to everyone else so far, including members of her own SG team."

"I know," Daniel said again. "I think there may be something the others didn't try."

"Alright, permission granted," Hammond conceded. "Let me know when you have something."

Hannah didn't even look up when the guard unlocked the door to let Daniel in. She was sitting on one of the chairs by the table, her knees pulled up to her chest, her arms wrapped around them. Her hair was coming loose now, tangling around her shoulders, and she looked even worse than she had before. But at least Daniel thought he now understood why this was a little better. He crossed the room and took the other chair. There was a short pause where neither of them said anything, then Daniel cleared his throat.

"So," he said. "Where's Gideon?"

Hannah's head jerked up before she could stop herself.

"I left him with a neighbour-" she started shakily, but Daniel cut her off.

"No," he said firmly. "Where's your son, Hannah?"

Caught by his eyes, Hannah found her resolve crumbling. A very long silence filled the room as she decided her next move. She couldn't lie to her friends any more. She needed their help. It was the only way.

"I don't know," she finally confessed.

This first step taken, the rest of it wasn't so difficult, and soon she had told him everything. About finding Price's body, about the alien and how it had taken her son away, and how she was terrified Gideon would be hurt when the alien came back to Price's house and she wasn't there as she said she'd be.

"When did it say it would be back?" Daniel asked as it all sank in.

"Sometime tomorrow morning," Hannah replied.

"Did he say if he was bringing Gideon with him?"

Hannah shook her head, her whole face tense with worry for her son.

"Daniel, please, you have to help him. I'm not asking you to forgive me for what I've done, but you have to save Gideon."

Her eyes met Daniel's pleadingly. His gaze was still cold, a long way from the Daniel she knew, the one that called her his friend, but that wasn't important. She was desperate to make sure her son was safe, that was all that mattered.

"We will," Daniel replied finally. "He's an innocent in all this, we won't let him get hurt. But we have to stop the alien."

"I know," Hannah replied. "You do know I was only helping it because I had no choice, don't you?"

But Daniel didn't reply. Instead he stood up and headed for the door.

"Daniel!" Hannah called after him. "You do know that, don't you? Please don't say you think I was responsible for Andrew's death as well? Because I don't think I could take it if you thought that too."

Daniel stopped at the door, but he didn't turn around.

"Who thinks that?"

"Jason and Carl. I mean, Captain Sharp and Colonel Thomas, the rest of my team. They came in to see me earlier, and they think I won't tell them anything because I'm guilty. But I swear to you, Daniel, I didn't have anything to do with it, I promise."

There was another long pause.

"I believe you," Daniel said, eventually. He turned back to look at her, his hand on the door. His eyes were hard. "I just don't know if I can forgive you."

And with that, he opened the door and walked away, leaving Hannah alone to deal with her guilt and her fear.

Outside Cheyenne Mountain, a cold grey dawn was just starting to break when Daniel returned to Hannah's holding cell. She was dozing in one of the less uncomfortable chairs to the side of the room, but she awoke as the door opened.

She sat up as Daniel came in, her half-asleep brain noticing with surprise that he was dressed in full military gear, as if for a mission through the 'gate.

"What is it?" she asked. "What are you going to do?"

"You're coming with us," he told her, refusing to meet her questioning gaze. "We need you if we're going to get your son back."

Hannah leapt to her feet, grabbing her coat and moving out the door before he could say any more.

The rest of SG-1 were waiting for them at the exit to the base, with several other fully kitted up men and women. She'd expected Jason and Carl to be among them, that they would want to make sure the alien who killed their team-mate was caught, but then they were still officially on leave, and she supposed that they still thought it was her who was the enemy. She tried to ignore the way that most of the others were looking at her.

"What do I have to do?" she asked as they all climbed into their transport and moved off. "We want you to meet with the alien as you arranged," O'Neill told her.

"We'll take it from there."

"What about my son?" Hannah asked, the desperation breaking through in her voice.

"We'll be looking out for him," Sam reassured her, perhaps the least opposing voice in the truck.

Hannah found she had nothing more to say. She'd spent half the night trying to come up with the best explanation for her actions, one that would stop everyone from looking at her like they did, but couldn't. It wasn't as if she'd wanted this. She knew that helping the alien and stealing from the SGC had been a betrayal, but, in all honesty, she couldn't see anything else that she could have done, not without risking Gideon. That didn't make her feel any better about herself, wasn't a justification for her actions, but she wanted the others to at least see that she hadn't had any choice, that it wasn't a decision she'd taken lightly, and most of all, that she hadn't wanted to betray and hurt her friends.

The rest of the journey was spent in silence until they reached their destination. In the briefest of terms, O'Neill outlined what they wanted her to do.

"Do I get my gun back?" Hannah asked, holding her head up high.

O'Neill met her gaze.

"No," he replied. "Not until we're sure who you're going to be shooting at."

Hannah felt her stomach clench in anger.

"Need I remind you, Colonel," she said tightly. "That the alien has my son? I won't be doing anything that might endanger him, I can assure you."

O'Neill didn't reply, just turned and began directing the others into position.

Struggling to control her emotions, Hannah walked up to the house and went in. There was no one there, and as she moved to signal this to the others waiting outside, her cell phone rang in her coat pocket, startling her. In all this, she'd forgotten she had it. Her heart sinking, she read the name from the caller ID. It was her lawyer. She knew what that had to mean. Moving to the window to tell SG-1 to follow her in, she answered it, and listened to the man tell her what she already knew he had to say. The conversation was short, she'd already hung up before the others came in, and taking up their positions, they settled down to wait.

For Hannah, this wait was one of the longest and hardest of her life, and she never knew how she got through it, not knowing how anything was going to end up, if her son was safe, and what was going to happen to them after. Eventually, after what seemed like days, she heard a sound outside that indicated the alien's return. Her heart in her mouth, she leapt to her feet, glancing at the corners of the room that concealed SG-1. She caught O'Neill's eye, and saw him raise his gun, a steely expression on his face.

Swallowing nervously, and thinking that perhaps if they got through this alive, O'Neill might shoot her himself, Hannah picked up the bag of electronic equipment she'd dropped earlier, and moved to the middle of the open plan room to meet the alien.

To her immense relief, Gideon was with it, looking impossibly small and frightened, but unharmed.

"Gideon!" she cried out, unable to stop herself.

"Mommy?" Gideon asked in confusion, but immediately fell silent again as the alien gripped his shoulder.

"No more," said the alien. "You bring what needed?"

"Yes," Hannah replied stonily. "Now give me back my son."

"No," the alien said. "Need more from you."

Its attention on Hannah, the alien didn't see Jack O'Neill step out of the shadows and press the barrel of his gun into the alien's back.

"Do as the lady says," he commanded.

The alien froze, and Hannah took the opportunity to dart forward and disarm it, grabbing Gideon and pulling him away to safety as she did. Relief flooding through her as she enveloped her little boy in her eyes, she was oblivious to anything else around her until Daniel laid his hand on her shoulder.

"Give me the gun, Hannah," he said.

Hannah stood, hurt at the lack of warmth towards her in his tone, and the implication that went with it, but she handed the gun over, picking up her son to hold him close in a belated attempt to protect him.

"Maybe we should leave it here," she told him. "I think it's Andrew's."

She turned back to the alien, whose hands O'Neill was restraining behind its back.

"What are you going to do with it?" she asked coldly.

"Can't hurt," the alien replied, desperation showing through its inhumanity.

"Have human host. Is innocent. If don't help I, then will kill host."

There was a pause. This possibility had not yet been considered.

"And if we do help you?" Daniel asked. "Will you let him go then?"

"Don't need back on planet," the alien replied. "Only want go home, not want to kill. But will if not helped."

"Is there an actual reason why we can't let it go back home?" Daniel asked his team-mates.

"It killed Andrew." Hannah spat the words. "Isn't that reason enough?"

Daniel ignored her.

"So if we take you back to P3X 919, you'll release your host unharmed?" he asked it.

"Can release now," it told him. "Stronger now, not need so much."

Daniel considered this.

"So could you transfer to one of us, and let that person take you back?"

"Uh, Daniel?" O'Neill asked.

"It's okay, Jack. I think this'll work. I mean, we can't let it take a complete stranger through the Stargate and then leave him on another planet, can we? And if it leaves its host now, we'll know he won't be harmed."

Daniel looked at his commanding officer, his whole face a question.

O'Neill returned the look as he turned over options in his head.

"It can have me as a host," Hannah said suddenly, unexpectedly. "I'll take its sorry ass back home, if that's what it wants." Her tone was bitter.

O'Neill stared at her.

"Are you nuts?" he asked her. "You think we'll trust you after you've been helping it?"

"You want it in your head?" she threw back. "Look at it this way. You'll be able to keep an eye on both of us at once, won't you? Besides, what am I going to do? Daniel already took the gun away."

There was another silence as this sank in.

"I agree to Markham as next host," the alien offered.

"Okay," O'Neill finally agreed. "But what about your son?"

"He can stay at the SGC until this is done, can't he?" Hannah asked. "I want Doctor Frasier to check he's okay anyway."

"You want us to take a kid into the SGC?" O'Neill asked in disbelief.

"He doesn't have to see anything important," Hannah explained, irritated.

"He already knows what I do is secret, so what does it matter if he sees a bit of the base? He can stay in the infirmary if it bothers you that much."

"I agree to Markham," the alien repeated, hopeful.

"Shall we just get on with this?" Hannah snapped impatiently, putting Gideon down with some reluctance and taking a step towards the alien.

She turned her head to look at Carter.

"Would you look after Gideon for me?" she asked, her eyes revealing the fear that she was trying to hide behind her antagonistic behaviour. "I'd rather he didn't see this."

"Sure," Carter replied neutrally, taking the little boy's hand and leading him away from Hannah, back to the truck.

"Then let's do this," Hannah said, her body rigid with determination.

"What do I have to do?" she asked the alien.

"Do nothing," the alien replied. "Try not struggle. Won't hurt, but be calm."

"Okay."

Hannah closed her eyes and waited for the alien to disentangle itself from the man's mind and drift slowly out of his body. The man collapsed to the floor as the alien left him, unconscious.

O'Neill nodded to two nearby soldiers.

"Take him outside. Make sure he gets to a hospital, but don't let him see what's going on here."

They complied, lifting the unfortunate man up and carrying him out of the house as the alien gathered itself together, and dived into Hannah. A tiny cry escaped her as it did, her knees starting to buckle, but before she could fall, the alien gained control, and she straightened up again. When she re-opened her eyes, there was a golden glow to them that made Daniel shudder, bringing back horrible memories of the first time he saw Sha're as Ammonet. Forcing himself to push these aside, he stepped forward.

"Hannah?" he asked tentatively.

She turned her head to look at him, and as she did, he saw that it wasn't Hannah at all.

"Not hurt," the alien informed him. "Markham woman still here. I just more here than she is."

Daniel found he didn't want to think about that too much.

"Come on," O'Neill commanded, and the team moved out, leading the alien that occupied Hannah's body with them.

The Stargate activated in a swirl of energy, shattering the silence of P3X 919 as the wormhole manifested itself. A group stepped through the water-like contents; SG-1, and Hannah, carrying the alien within her. Daniel had his hand on her shoulder, quietly guiding her. They took a few steps away from the Stargate as it shut off, but O'Neill stopped them going any further.

"Is there any place special you'd like to go?" he asked the alien, more than a hint of sarcasm in his voice that was lost on the being.

"No," it replied. "But should be in cover. Not like wide open space."

"I'm sorry to hear that," O'Neill said insincerely.

"We could go back to site first at," the alien suggested. "Where dug holes in ground."

"Sure, why not?" O'Neill replied, in the same tone, slinging the gun he carried against his shoulder. "Maybe you could help out with some of the digging while we're there."

The group travelled in silence until they reached the abandoned excavation site. The alien halted, close where it had first tried to possess Major Price.

"Here," it said. "I release here. But you let me go?"

O'Neill didn't reply, but he did lower the gun.

"I-" the alien began, then stopped. "I sorry for trouble."

Hannah's head bowed, the golden light going out of her eyes as the alien carefully withdrew, rising into the air in a slow drifting shimmer. Hannah's body started to slump and Daniel caught her as she came back to herself. Unlike the unnamed man it had taken by force, Hannah was not left incapacitated, and she did not collapse, leaning against Daniel's support while she regained her senses.

"Where did it go?" she asked faintly, clinging onto him.

"It's gone," he told her gently. Keeping his arm around her, he turned them both so that she could see it glide away.

Hannah nodded, and too late he realised her intent as her body tensed, then she pushed herself away from him towards Teal'c. He tried to stop her, but she had only been feigning weakness and she was too fast. Snatching the zat gun from Teal'c holster, she ran past the startled Jaffa until the fleeing alien was within her sights, and then she fired. The blast hit the alien square in its centre - Hannah had carried it within her mind, and she knew it now as it knew her, knew how to kill it - and with a blinding flash, and a scream that only she could hear, the alien died against the clear blue sky.

Catching up with her, Daniel grabbed Hannah, wresting the gun from her grip. She didn't resist as he pulled her round to face him.

"What the hell were you thinking?" he asked her, shocked and angry at what had just happened.

"The same thing all of you were," she replied, strangely calm. "Only difference is, I shot the bastard, and you were going to let it go."

She turned her gaze to the rest of the group.

"I know you think I was working with it out of choice," she told them. "But I really wasn't. And I wasn't going to let it get away with what it did to Andrew."

She paused, a hint of her inner fury rising in her eyes and her voice.

"To _me_."

Daniel looked at her, speechless, still holding onto her shoulders. This wasn't the Hannah he knew, any more it had apparently been when he'd first found her at Major Price's house. He hadn't truly believed it then, and he wasn't sure he did now, but this time, he couldn't see any other reason for what she'd just done than the one she herself had given. Eventually, he let her go, and without another word, he turned and set off back towards the Stargate. Taking Hannah's arm and leading her with him, Teal'c followed, Carter and O'Neill behind.

Teal'c still had hold of Hannah when they returned to the SGC through the Stargate. General Hammond was there to meet them, a small troop of soldiers with him.

"Were you successful?" Hammond asked as they clanged down the ramp. "Did you get the alien out of Doctor Markham?"

"Yeah," O'Neill replied. "She shot it."

"You did what?" Hammond asked in disbelief.

Hannah dropped her gaze like a sulky schoolgirl in front of the head teacher.

"She got hold of a zat gun and she blew it to bits," O'Neill elaborated. "It's not that that I really mind, it's the fact that she didn't do it a lot sooner and save us a whole load of trouble that's the problem."

"What did you expect me to do?" Hannah asked sullenly. "Shoot that poor guy who was carrying it? Or maybe you'd rather I shot myself when I had it?"

O'Neill didn't reply, and Hannah found she didn't care. She was tired of all this. She just wanted it all to end, so she wouldn't have to deal with what everyone thought of her. She'd known it was likely that she was finished at the SGC as soon as she'd been caught, and the killing of the alien probably didn't make any difference. She let the soldiers take her back to the holding cell without further protest, and there she waited for them to decide what was going to happen to her. Her request to visit Gideon, or to have him with her was apparently ignored – as far as she knew, he was still in the infirmary, in the capable hands of Doctor Frasier and her colleagues.

She was sitting in the same chair, staring into the empty air in front of her when Daniel finally came to see her. Closing the door quietly, he came over to stand in front of her, but he didn't speak.

"How's Gideon?" Hannah asked, still focussing on nothing.

"Doctor Frasier says he's fine," Daniel replied.

There was a silence.

"So," Hannah said, finally. "Am I out of the SGC yet?"

"I don't know," Daniel told her, and Hannah tried to ignore the disappointment she could hear in his voice.

"You tell me."

"Doesn't matter," Hannah replied. "I don't care about it, not anymore."

"What do you mean by that?" Daniel folded his arms, studying the woman in front of him, a woman he'd thought he knew, called a friend. Didn't think he knew who she was now.

Hannah didn't answer for a moment, but she shifted her gaze to the floor, pulling her knees into her chest.

"When we were waiting at Andrew's house, I got a call from my lawyer. I'd called before to tell him I couldn't make the hearing was because Gideon was ill. I don't know if he believed me, but I don't suppose it makes much difference. He told me that they'd ruled in absentia."

She finally looked up to meet Daniel's eyes, her own red-rimmed from tears.

"I lost, Daniel. I'm officially an unreliable mother. They're going to take my son away from me."

Her gaze dropped again.

"Go on, tell me I deserve it. I don't care."

"No."

Daniel pulled up a chair and sat down in front of her. "I'm not going to do that. Because it's not true. I'm not saying what you did was OK, you should have come to us right away, but I can see that you didn't think you had any choice. You did what you thought was best for your son, and maybe that's understandable."

Hannah glanced up at him, gnawing on her ragged fingernail.

"But it's not forgivable, is it?" she replied, not even making it into a real question.

There was a really long silence as Daniel hesitated, thinking about his honest answer.

"I don't know," he replied at last. "Maybe, in time."

"I know you probably don't want to hear this right now," Hannah told him.

"But I do care what you think about me. Your friendship means a lot to me. I don't think Jason and Carl will forgive me, they probably still think I killed Andrew. Did you know they told me not to come to his funeral?"

Daniel shook his head. Hannah hugged herself tighter.

"I really cared about Andrew. He was a good friend, and not just to me, to Gideon too. I haven't told him about what happened yet and I have no idea how I'm going to."

Her eyes distanced again.

"Or how I'm going to tell him he's going to live with his daddy."

This time, Daniel's sympathy for his friend broke through. He reached out and squeezed her hand, taking the first step towards rebuilding their friendship.

"I'm sorry," he said simply. That was enough. Hannah's last shred of resilience dissolved and the tears began to fall.

"I don't know what to do," she confessed. "I just want my little boy back."

"Did they say what the terms of the case ruling were?" Daniel's question was cautious.

Hannah wiped away the tears that had escaped.

"A little," she replied. "I get to see him every other weekend, but Gideon'll be in Montana with Taylor the rest of the time. And he'll get a new mommy, of course."

The bitterness in her voice was clear.

"It's funny, isn't it," she went on, her tone showing it was in fact the opposite. "Now I'm out of the SGC, I'm probably in a better position to look after Gideon, but it's too late now, and I've lost him too."

"You don't know that you're out yet," Daniel began but Hannah interrupted, shaking her head.

"No. Even if they don't court-martial me, or whatever they do to archaeologists in the military, I have to leave. I can't stay here, not now."

Daniel regarded her carefully.

"Are you sure?" he asked. "Because regardless of what's happened, I still meant what I said earlier. I'd be sorry to see you go."

"You mean professionally."

"Yes. But also as a friend."

There was another long silence as the two archaeologists tried to deal with what was going on in their heads.

"Have you thought about what you're going to do now?" Daniel asked.

"For a job, I mean."

"A bit," Hannah replied. "Now I don't have to worry about Gideon's safety, I've cleared a lot of room in my head. I thought about lecturing. You know, something stable to get my life back on track. That way I might have a better chance of an appeal against the custody ruling. Or I might at least be able to get better terms on my side."

"Lecturing?" Daniel's face showed exactly what he thought of Hannah taking that job.

"Yeah." The tiny beginning of a smile began to show on Hannah's face. "Not all of us got unceremoniously kicked out of the academic community you know."

"You mean laughed out," Daniel corrected, wincing at the memory.

"You were right though, weren't you?" Hannah pointed out. "I bet all of those stuffed shirt professors would give their right arm to see half of what you've seen."

The hint of a smile increased.

"Did you know you've got a website?" she asked.

"A website?" Daniel repeated, startled.

"Yeah. Well, it's not strictly yours, but you are the star attraction. It's called or something. Turns out there are some people out there who don't think you're completely nuts," Hannah replied, enjoying his surprise. "Somehow they got hold of some of your old papers from before you got on the Stargate programme, and they think you're a genius. Seems to some, you're the new Von Daniken, Daniel."

Daniel found himself at a complete loss for words.

"Don't worry," Hannah continued. "It's not a security risk. They haven't a clue about the Stargate or anything. They're just harmless wackos who like to believe in aliens."

"Wackos?" Daniel repeated, sounding a little hurt.

"Oh, not completely," Hannah reassured him. "I mean, they're right about the aliens. Sort of. But even I didn't believe your theories till I saw the 'Gate myself."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Well, did you expect me to? No-one else did."

"Thanks," Daniel replied with a pained expression.

"Actually, it took a lot to convince me of the whole Goa'uld thing, remember?" Hannah reminded him.

"Including being shot at by a Jaffa."

She pulled up the left leg of her trouser suit, revealing the fading scar of a burn from a near miss by the blast of a staff weapon.

"Maybe I wasn't ever that well suited to this job," she continued ruefully. "And I don't just mean the unorthodox t-shirts."

"But are you sure you're ready to give it up?" Daniel pressed.

Hannah looked down, shaking her head.

"No. But it wouldn't be the same any more, would it? My team wouldn't want me back, and it's sort of lost a lot of what it used to mean now. It's not like I've got a particular objective like- " She stopped abruptly, realising what she'd just said.

"I'm sorry, Daniel, I didn't mean-"

"It's OK," Daniel cut her off, not wanting to get onto the subject of Sha're. Hannah had offered him her support before, and while he appreciated that, he hadn't taken her up on it. Although she understood what it was like to lose someone you loved, and her friendship, along with the rest of SG-1's, had helped, their situations weren't really all that similar, and unsolicited sympathy wasn't something that Daniel wanted.

"For what it's worth," Hannah told him, tentatively. "I really hope you get her back. I never got to meet her."

Daniel allowed himself a faint smile at the memories he had of his wife, letting Hannah in a little for once.

"You would've liked her," he said.

"Yeah," she said. "I'm sure I would."

There was a warm silence for a moment.

"I'm gonna miss you," Hannah said finally. "I doubt they'll let me stay in contact with anyone here, but I hope that we'll meet up some day. As friends."

"Maybe," Daniel replied. "And I hope you get Gideon back one day, too."

"Thank you," Hannah said, as Daniel stood up to go.

She held out her hand cautiously, unsure if she was pushing things, too soon, but Daniel took it, then pushed aside any negative feelings he had towards her and hugged her. She accepted the hug gratefully, then sank back into her chair as he left her alone again, waiting for the soldiers to return.

It was several days before Daniel finally found the time to make a new entry in his diary and try to make some sense out of the confusion in his head.

"Just got back from closing down the excavation on P3X 919. Turns out it didn't have any answers after all, which makes it all the worse. I was really hoping to get something good out of this, to show Jack that it really is worthwhile doing all the "archaeology stuff," but it turns out that the native aliens were the only reason why the Goa'uld left, and all we got out of this excavation was a load of trouble.

I'm so tired of never getting anywhere; it's just so frustrating that every time we seem to turn up a new lead it turns out like this one did. I still don't really know how to feel about what happened.

Before all this started, I would have counted Hannah as a good friend, and although I can sort of understand why she did what she did, I'm finding it really hard not to see it as a betrayal. The Hannah I saw these last few days isn't the one I know."

Daniel stopped writing, leaning back in his chair as he found himself remembering the first time he'd met Hannah. Hell, it would be hard to forget.

He'd been working late on some translations and decided to head for the gym. Just as he was about to get on the treadmill, a woman walked in from the showers, soaking wet and wearing nothing but a rather skimpy towel. As first impressions go, that was pretty unique. She didn't seem even slightly embarrassed, which is more than Daniel could say for himself.

"Forgot my watch," she said, picking it up and moving to leave, but then she turned back.

"You must be Daniel Jackson," she said, looking him up and down. "You know, you're cuter than you look in your pictures."

Caught off guard by the fact she was practically naked and not at all concerned, he'd half thought she was making a pass at him, until he saw the wedding band glinting on her finger.

"I've been looking forward to meeting you," she went on. "Not like this, I admit. I'm Doctor Hannah Markham, by the way."

She gave him her hand to shake.

"My husband thinks you're a nut, but I read some of your work and I was impressed."

"Is your husband an archaeologist?" Daniel asked, aware that he was probably blushing bright red. She seemed amused at his question.

"Taylor? God, no. He's in house repairs. Academia isn't his thing at all. Which is good in a way, because that means he hasn't asked me much about what this job is actually about."

"You've just started here?" Daniel asked.

"This month," she replied. "I think they'll be assigning me to a team soon, so I can get out there and do some proper exploring, instead of just lab work."

She smiled at him.

"Nice to have met you, Daniel," she said, using his first name without asking his permission. "I hope we meet in better circumstances next time."

That had nearly come true. She wasn't half undressed when they met again, but their next encounter had been in the infirmary, after Hannah had narrowly avoided being shot by a staff weapon. Daniel himself had just finished being screened after returning from a new planet when he came across her, propped up on a bed, holding a surgical pad to the wound on her leg.

"What happened?" he asked, noting that she didn't seem too concerned by her injury.

"I didn't get out of the way fast enough when a group of Jaffa dropped by," she replied, grimacing as she peeled the pad away to check the state of her wound.

"Is it bad? Are you okay?"

"Oh, I'm fine. This is nothing. You should try giving birth some time."

She looked over at him with a mischievous smile.

"Although I suppose you might find that a bit difficult."

"Actually, I have delivered a baby before," Daniel informed her.

"You've got a kid?"

"A son," Hannah replied, easing herself over to the side of the bed. "Gideon. He's nearly four."

"It can't be easy to combine raising a kid with working here."

Hannah shrugged. "It's not the easiest thing in the world," she replied. "My husband's really good, but it is difficult to explain to babysitters why I'm late sometimes. Do you have children?"

Daniel looked down, his amused smile fading.

"No. I don't know if anyone told you, but my wife was abducted by the Goa'uld."

Hannah winced.

"Oh, yeah, they did. Sorry."

"That's OK."

They'd become friends from that point onwards, often enlisting the other's help whenever something came up that was new and baffling.

Then there had come the time when he'd gone to see her in her office, found her sitting there, staring into space, tapping her pencil absently against the desk, over and over.

"Hannah?" He knocked on the open door to attract her attention.

"Daniel. Hi," she replied, still tapping, clearly distracted.

"Is something wrong?" he asked, concerned.

"Oh, I'm fine," she said. "What have you got for me?"

They discussed the artefact he had for a few minutes, but Daniel noticed that Hannah's attention kept straying to the picture on her desk. In it, Daniel saw Hannah holding her newborn son, her husband standing behind her with his arms around her waist.

Eventually she stopped talking altogether, her gaze fixed on the photograph.

Daniel put his hand over hers, stopping the tapping which had started up again.

"Hannah. What is it?"

Hannah met his eyes, a lost expression on her face.

"It's Taylor," she replied finally. "He's leaving me."

"Oh." Daniel found he had no idea what to say.

Hannah covered her face with her hands, leaning forward on the desk.

"He told me this morning. He's moving in with some woman whose plumbing he was working on." She pulled a face. "In more ways than one, by the sound of it."

"I'm so sorry," Daniel said. "What about the kid?"

Hannah turned her head away.

"That's for the lawyers to sort out," she replied. "He wants the divorce to be as quick as possible." She brushed away the tears that were starting to fall.

"Shit," she said, expressing all her frustration and upset in one simple word.

It had taken a long time for Hannah to return to her normal self, despite the help of Daniel and her SG team-mates. From that point onwards though, Daniel found that their friendship was strictly on professional terms. They were still friends, but Hannah refused to talk about anything outside of the SGC. Then the whole problem of the custody battle had begun, and Hannah no longer had the same light attitude that had always followed her before.

Daniel shook his head, cutting off the stream of memories that were surfacing, and returned to his writing.

"In a way, maybe it's for the best that she's leaving. While I'm sorry to see her go in a lot of ways, I'm hoping it'll make it easier to forgive her if she's not around. I can see why Captain Sharp and Colonel Thomas are finding it so hard - if it had been me who'd done what she did, I don't know if Jack or Sam would forgive me, and I haven't any idea how Teal'c would react.

This whole thing's got me thinking about my priorities, too. I know Hannah felt that she'd do anything to save her son, and in normal circumstances that would be totally natural, but this isn't a normal situation; there's times when we're dealing with the safety of the whole planet, and I don't know, maybe you can't divide your attention between the job and the rest of your life like that.

It just made me think, what would it take for me to do what she did? It nearly did happen, with the whole sarcophagus thing, and I'd never thought that that would ever be something that could happen to me. I mean, the real reason I'm here, at the SGC, is because I haven't found Sha're yet, and I'm never going to give up on her, but there's so much else that's happened since I signed up. And what's going to happen when I do find her? I can't really see Sha're wanting to move to Earth, even if I do get her back as she was before. Will we just go back to living quietly on Abydos? Well, as quietly as you can on a planet that spent thousands of years under the Goa'uld. Who knows, maybe the quiet life would be good after everything we've all been through."

Daniel stopped writing abruptly, snapping the book closed as if to shut off the thoughts he was having, realizing that this wasn't helping, that all he'd end up doing is thinking round in circles, brooding over things he couldn't change, knowing from experience that it wouldn't help the way he was feeling. He shelved the diary; he'd finish the entry later, hopefully it would be easier then. A tentative knock on his door pulled him out of his thoughts.

"Hey."

He looked over to see Samantha Carter in the doorway, out of uniform and ready to leave.

"A bunch of us were planning to grab a beer or something on the way home. Wanna join us?"

"Sure." Daniel was relieved to find a distraction. "Just let me grab my jacket."

"Are you okay?" Sam asked, looking closer at him. "You seem a little, I don't know, weird."

"I'm fine," Daniel replied, not looking at her.

"Is it about Hannah?" Sam asked, astutely. "I know you guys were friends-"

"Yeah," Daniel admitted. "But I'm fine. I just need to get out of here for a while. Beer sounds good."

"No arguments here," Sam replied with a smile. "C'mon, the others are waiting."

Daniel flipped off the lights, leaving the office in darkness. It could wait. Whatever his feelings were, all the unresolved thoughts he had, they could all wait.

32


End file.
